We’ve hit the midpoint here in what has been an already perplexing and surprising first month of the NBA season. Time to throw some elbows ...

Buyer beware on Rondo’s shot

There is some excitement brewing in Boston around the performance of point guard Rajon Rondo. In his first seven games, Rondo has continued to show that he is the NBA’s best playmaker, leading the league in assists with 12.5 per game. But he has also shown confidence in his jumper, which has long been his weak spot — defenders sag off Rondo and allow him those midrange shots, and all too frequently, he misses and stops looking to take them.

Before Wednesday’s game vs. the Utah Jazz, Rondo is shooting 52.8 percent from the field this season. His ability at the rim is outstanding (65.7 percent) as usual, but according to Hoopdata.com, he has shot 50.0 percent from 10-15 feet, and 48.0 percent from 16-23 feet. Last year, he shot 27.8 percent from 10-15 feet and 39.0 percent from 16-23 feet.

But before the enthusiasm around Rondo’s newfound shooting stroke boils over, remember that we have seen this from him before. In fact, Rondo almost always starts out with a better-looking shot, but slips back to his norm as the year goes on.

Last year, he came out shooting 49.8 percent from the field in his first 20 games, then shot 41.1 percent from there. In his career, Rondo has shot 51.5 percent from the field from October-December, but 46.7 percent after the New Year hits.

Go ahead and be excited, but let’s check back with Rondo’s shot in February and March.

Why even call Phil?

For the Los Angeles Lakers, the problem isn’t so much that new coach Mike D’Antoni will have to find a way to quickly install his up-tempo offense, get his team to play better defensively and decide how to distribute shots among a litany of star players. The problem is that his front office has set him up in a no-win situation, one in which he needs to bring a championship to Los Angeles or be considered a bad hire and a second-rate coach.

The Lakers are not going to win a championship, not with the Thunder and Spurs to deal with out West and the Heat in the East. D’Antoni, for this year, at least, is pretty much doomed.

Even before they fired Mike Brown, the brain trust of Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss should have already known the answer to the most obvious question: Do we want Phil Jackson to come back and coach this team?

Before considering any other candidate, the Lakers needed to know that answer. They had Jackson on the sideline for 11 of the last 13 years—there isn’t much need for an interview here. So if they so much as dialed Phil’s number, it should have been solely for the purpose of hiring him. Anything else was bound to create a problem.

Kupchak later explained that the team reached out to Jackson and had “a basketball discussion.” A basketball discussion? With Phil Jackson?

What could the Lakers have possibly learned about Jackson in a basketball discussion that they didn’t know already?

Instead, by getting involved with Jackson, the Lakers got the players on the team and the fan base fired up about his return. Rightfully so.

The guy has 11 championship rings. All Lakers coaches in the near future will be measured against him, even if he remains retired, holes up in a remote North Dakota cabin and never does another media interview in his life. But to call Jackson about the job, then not offer it to him, was bound not only to ding the front office’s already dented reputation, it was certain to do tremendous damage to whomever the Lakers hired.

That turned out to be D’Antoni, who now has to deal with high expectations — and with not being Phil Jackson, to boot. He can thank the guys who hired him for that.

Zero games played does not a commodity make

There was an interesting phrase that Houston Rockets rookie Royce White used in the statement released by his PR folks on Tuesday night: “I must advocate for my rights,” he said, “it is a player-commodity league.”

White can and should look out for himself, and he correctly pointed out that the Rockets took on some responsibility for White’s well-being when they drafted him fully aware of his anxiety disorder.

Players are commodities in the NBA, but they’re commodities only if, you know, they actually play. No one doubts the severity of White’s problem and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. But staying home and firing off PR statements is not a very productive way to handle this situation. Few commodities are easier to dispose of than players on low-money rookie deals, which are only guaranteed for the first two years.

Thumbs up for the ’12 draft

White, it turns out, is an anomaly—the early returns on the 2012 draft have been overwhelmingly positive.

While the speculation that this draft might be as good as any we’ve seen since ’03 is premature, the NBA is likely to wind up with at least a handful of stars from this year’s class. Already, No. 1 pick Anthony Davis of the Hornets has shown he has the potential to be a franchise player, and Blazers point guard Damian Lillard has impressed by averaging 18.4 points per game.

There is depth in this draft, too. All told, there are 18 players in this class who are averaging at least 15 minutes per game, and that should go up as the year goes on. Not ’03, of course, but not bad, either.